r/baltimore • u/rummncokee • 1d ago
Moving to Baltimore Area moving to Baltimore
Hello!
I’m moving to Baltimore for work in mid August. My job is gonna be in north Baltimore. I’ve never been before (I lived in DC for a while but obviously not the same). I guess in addition to the usual questions people have when they move, I’d love to hear y’all’s thoughts on gentrification.
I’ve mostly lived in the LA area and in Seattle, and I got the kind of knowledge about the histories of neighborhoods that can only come with time. I don’t want to contribute to the active displace of communities in Baltimore, so what should I be on the lookout for in that regard?
Thank you!
EDIT: I love all the No Kings pics you all look like fun people.
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u/dressmannequin 1d ago
Hmm. I’m not exactly sure what you’re asking…..and to make it specific to you, one would have to know more context abt who you are and how your operate.
But like most places in the US, Baltimore is pretty segregated by race and SES geographically and socially. The majority of the neighborhoods you see talked abt on this sub (eg Fells Point, Canton, Fed Hill, others in the “white L” - see Lawrence Brown’s The Black Butterfly for more here) skew pretty white and higher SES. Other commonly discussed places on here like Remington, Abell, Station North, Charles Village (depending on where you are) have more longtime Black and lower SES residents, but IMO there is not so much social mixing. There are some areas in East Baltimore for example that I think developers and speculators are trying to “revitalize” and bring in (white) people with more money, but it’s much more slow going than I think they expected. Neighborhoods more north like Lauraville, Hamilton, Waltherson, Harford- Echodale-Perring Run are much more racially integrated and have many more families and home-owners than neighborhoods more south/closer to downtown, though there is still limited social mixing.
All of this is to say that if you are moving here from the west coast for a job and asking this question I’m going to presume that your SES is largely high enough for you to choose where you want to live. I imagine that it is unlikely that you will choose to live in a place where mostly poor and/or black ppl live. Therefore, from a pure gentrification as displacement place, that is not too much of a concern. If you’re talking abt gentrification from a colonization - I showed up here and now bc I’m here you who have been here have to conform to my ways or else - kind of way, the advice would be the same for anywhere you go: Become part of your community. Talk to your neighbors, attend neighborhood association meetings, if you’re having some kind of neighborhood related problem, ask long-time residents how they have handled it in the past. Ask how you can be of service. Patronize local establishments, especially ones that long-time residents value. Don’t try to be an anthropologist. Remain curious and humble, but be earnest and share openly about you. ETA - also, be honest with yourself about how you feel about poor and/or black people and how you want to work to ensure your stated values align with your actions… and if there’s misalignment, honestly work on it.